Between Brexit and a hard place

On March 12, the British Parliament overwhelmingly voted down Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal with the European Union (for a second time). Yesterday, March 13, Parliament voted to reject the possibility of leaving the EU without a deal, while failing to acknowledge that this is precisely what will happen unless they reconcile themselves to the very deal they rejected the day before.

Today, Parliament is scheduled to vote to extend the Brexit deadline, so as to avoid the need to reconcile these two conflicting positions. But such an extension must be agreed by the EU itself, and European counterparts are fed up and unlikely to agree without conditions that will force the U.K. to finally choose between the only options left: the deal they don’t like or the no-deal scenario they (mostly) dread.

It has not been a good week in Westminster.

With the clock ticking, this week’s votes are starting to cut through the government’s political posturing, forcing recognition that the British played a weak hand badly. There are few options left for the U.K.